Salem Calling
by Tainted Life
Summary: An Original Tainted Life fic, about a slayer living in Salem during the witch trials. Any feed back and advice how to continue story will be much appreciated. Feel free for any critcism and ideas Disclaimer an original concept based on Joss Whedon's Slaye


01/02/1692  
  
The sun had almost risen, the night had seemed like it had lasted forever. Anna had never stayed out this late before; it was expected of girls of Anna's age to be home long before sundown not just after sunrise. But Anna wasn't like any ordinary girl of sixteen, she was the chosen one destined by ancient magicks to stand against the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer. It had been almost a year since she was called; she could still remember the night she was chosen. It was the Fifth of January Sixteen Ninety One in Salem when she was out with her watcher to have a field trip. It was her first field trip, as a potential slayer she had been training with her watcher since the age of twelve learning the ways of the slayer but possessing none of the inherited skills and stealth that each girl inherits as well as the strength of the slayer when she is chosen. On the night of her calling Anna's mother knew that she was going out to patrol and had performed a very powerful protection spell on her daughter.  
  
05/15/1691  
  
At that time Anna didn't know that her mother was one of the most powerful witches in her generation. On the night of her calling Anna and her watcher had told her mother that they would be doing their first field trip. When her father had fallen asleep they slipped out of the door armed with the tools a slayer would need for a night's patrolling. In a bag she carried a few stakes a cross a cross, some holy water that she had acquired from the church and a cross bow that was given to her by her watcher. Anna was feeling extremely nervous but also excited about her first field trip. She decided to wear an old black dress in case she ruined it and so she wouldn't be easily spotted by the town's residents and avoid any questions asked of her. Her watcher had decided to go to one of the town's cemeteries because he felt that they would have a better chance of fighting against a newly risen vampire rather than facing one that might have survived many centuries. The walk to the cemetery only took a few minutes and Anna couldn't help but shiver through nervousness and excitement at the possibility of witnessing her first real vampire. She had seen pictures of vampires whilst in her training role but had never actually seen one, even though her watcher had told her that Salem had its own share of vampires.  
  
As they waited in the cemetery by a fresh grave of a victim who was Anna's age. He had died in the middle of last night, in the morning when his body was discovered he had two fresh puncture marks on his neck where his blood had been drained. After a couple of hours of waiting for the vampire to rise the earth started to shift and a minute or two after she had first seen the earth move a hand burst through the soil and the vampire had started to rise. Anna instinctively bent down to the bag and held a stake in her right hand and a cross in her left hand. The stake felt like that it was made for Anna as she waited patiently for the vampire to rise. When she first saw the feral face of the vampire she was taken aback. The eyes glowed in the light of the pale moon, she breathed in suddenly when she saw that the vampire had noticed her standing there. Her wavy blonde hair was blowing in the slight breeze and her pale blue eyes had a determined look she knew what she had to do. The undead heart of the monster was her target and the stake was her weapon against it. She thought that the vampire looked familiar but she had to remember what her watcher had told her about them  
  
"No matter how human they may appear, and if you recognise the face you are not looking at the face of the person they once were but at the face of the thing that killed them".  
  
The newly risen vampire had moved in for the kill but Anna was ready for him. Her watcher stood behind her holding a bottle of holy water in case it was needed. Anna waited for the beast to come near her and as soon as he was near enough she held her cross near his face to draw the monster back. At the same time she aimed a kick into the chest of the vampire. She wasn't the slayer and didn't have the natural skills possessed by the slayer but she had been training since her twelfth birthday preparing herself for the day she might become the slayer. When she first learnt that she was a potential slayer her first thoughts were,  
  
"Why me?" She wasn't a warrior; she was an ordinary girl who occasionally spoke more than a girl should, from a small town in America. She wouldn't believe it, she neither cried nor fought Giles Corey the man who identified himself as her watcher, her guardian, teacher and protector the man who would open her eyes to a world she never knew existed. She simply answered "No"  
  
It wasn't until two days later when he approached her mother and Anna and mentioned her dreams, that she accepted that he might be telling her the truth. In the dreams she always fought, but she was never the same girl. She was a primal being a feral girl living for the hunt and the kill death was her art and she created it with her hands, every night she had been having these same dreams, she was a slave girl in Greece, an Egyptian princess, a medieval bar matron, and a Native American warrior. She had always assumed that these dreams were a result of her vivid imagination and had never mentioned them to anyone. When Giles mentioned these dreams to her she knew that he was telling the truth, and was prepared to accept her destiny.  
  
As the vampire she was fighting had been suddenly winded, Anna decided to drop her cross close to her and aim a blow to his face shattering his nose in the process. Anna became more confident with each new blow she gave the vampire and knew that she would soon be able to move in for the kill. The vampire was still slightly disorientated and soon Anna was able to dust him with a well placed blow to his unbeating heart with her stake.  
  
"Well done", her watcher said as he walked towards her, the vampire was blowing in the breeze.  
  
"Thank you" was all Anna was able to say.  
  
"Your first kill, was easy you used all the skills that I have taught you and made the fight quick. You knew your target and you delivered the fatal blow to the beast before he was able to kill you. This was a newly born vampire and you managed to catch him unawares, other vampires you come across may not be as easy to kill".  
  
The watcher offered these words of advice to Anna and they continued to stick in her mind to this day.  
  
"Home now, you have done enough for one night. I have never heard about a girl who's been more prepared as a potential slayer than you. If the day comes and you are called you will be named as one of the greatest slayers that ever lived".  
  
As they carried on the short walk to back to Anna's house they were attacked by two vampires. The stealth they had used amazed Anna for two powerful vampires they barely made a sound as they pounced. They seemed to appear out of no where and neither the slayer in waiting nor the watcher were prepared or anticipating this attack. One of them prepared to attack the watcher and the other one attacked Anna. Anna still had the stake in her hand and tried to aim it at the beast's heart. This time she wasn't going to be as lucky. The vampires had resided in Salem since the fifteenth century and had survived the years through cunning and stealth. When they heard about a slayer in waiting being trained in Salem they sought out to kill her. The plague of slayers had to be eliminated. These vermin had to be eliminated they had located the where about of the current slayer and had sent out their strongest and most sadistic minions to destroy the girl.  
  
When they had located Anna they waited for a night when they would be able to attack and eradicate her before she was called. Tonight would be their opportunity. The vampires were also dressed in black; both of them wore the most fashionable clothes of the day looted from a merchant on the way back from trading his wears. They both had their human faces when Anna first noticed them, they could quite easily have passed for two gentlemen. Their jet black shoulder length hair glistened in the light of the moon. Their eyes were also a striking shade of jade, they had their olive skin and jet black hair contrasted their jade eyes, they had an almost Hispanic appearance which made their jade eyes look even more striking. Once they had spotted Anna and Giles their faces turned to the feral faces of the vampire. Anna prepared to thrust her stake into the heart of the first beast but he batted away the stake as if it was a twig. Anna didn't have the strength to fight this beast but she also had to remember one of the most important lessons to the slayer don't die. She had to rely on her cunning if she was to defeat the beast. The vampire was about to strike her with a well aimed blow to her face when Anna decided to duck and roll out of the way. It was sheer luck that she landed next to the bag of weapons. Quick as a flash Anna reached for the bottle of holy water and flung it in the vampire's face. As his face started burning the slayer took the opportunity to grab the cross bow and aim it to the beast's heart. If she was lucky he would be dust, if she wasn't then maybe her watcher would manage to survive and bring her body to her mother. She was lucky, the shaft of the arrow landed in the beast's heart and he was dust. The damp ashes fell on Anna but she didn't pay attention to that.  
  
She had to save her watcher. He was lying on the ground with the vampire almost on top of him. Anna had no weapon to hand and had to rely on the little strength that she had and heave the monster of Giles; she just succeeded in pulling the vampire of Giles before standing tall ready for her fight. The watcher was almost blue in the face from the vampire trying to strangle the life out of him. Anna was once again on her own for the time being at least until Giles managed to get his breath back and help her. She managed to pick up her watcher's stake just in time before the vampire attacked her. She was weak from the two earlier fights and felt drained. The vampire knew she was weakening and gave her two successive blows to the face and kicked her in the chest before moving in for the kill. He had his hands around Anna's neck and was about to taste her blood. Before Giles could stop him he had started to lunge his teeth into her neck, she thought this was the moment that she was going to die. As the fangs made contact with her neck she felt something go through her. It was stronger than she could ever imagine some primal strength had entered her and she felt suddenly strong. With a quick head butt to the vampires face she was able to free herself, before high kicking the vampire in the face and breaking his nose in the process, before kicking the vampire in the face with her right foot, using the foot when she touched the floor she spun on it and aimed a kick to the vampires chest causing him to stumble and fall backwards and This new power that was surging through Anna's body knew that she would win this fight,  
  
"So this is the strength of the chosen one she thought to herself, I could get used to this". She whispered to herself, as she grasped stake in her right hand, it was a couple of seconds before the vampire was ready to attack once more, she remembered one of the first pieces of advice that Giles had offered her when she started her training, a slayer must always have her weapon with her, the vampire already has his. With a determined steely look in her pale blue eyes she gave the vampire a back handed blow to the cheek knocking him off balance, and aimed a blow to his chest. There was a satisfying crunch as the stake entered the beast's chest and soon it was dust. She was still clutching her stake looking at the ground in astonishment when her watcher approached her.  
  
"Anna how did you manage to do that? The way that you moved was unnaturally fast". Her watcher asked her already knowing the answer in her heart.  
  
"I don't know. I felt this surge of power go through me and I knew that I would be able to defeat it". Anna replied her voice wavered a little towards the end as they both already possessed the answer to the question.  
  
"Anna you have been called, it is your duty now to fight on the side of everything that is good and try to battle the evil. You are now the slayer the protector of the world".  
  
The watcher couldn't help but feel proud of his slayer, he had heard of watcher who had trained potential slayers in the past who hadn't been called and had hoped that his girl would be called. There was a part of him that didn't want her called as the life span of the slayer was very limited and they died in battle usually horribly and violently. In cases that had been recorded the body of the slayer was sometimes never found and when it was they were often mangled and beaten so horrifically it was hard to imagine the girl beneath all the blood. The worst case had only happened to a handful of slayers they had been sired. The vampires knowing their super strength were able to have a more powerful ally on their side.  
  
"Who was the slayer who I have just succeeded?" Anna enquired bringing John out of his thoughts.  
  
He hadn't expected a question like this. Most slayers usually never asked about their immediate predecessor. "I didn't know her personally, she was known as Gaia, and she lived in a village in Ethiopia, she is the direct descendent of the shadow men who used the most ancient and powerful magicks to create the first slayer".  
  
Anna silently contemplated her future as she carried on the walk home. Questions were running through her mind. Most of them started with why? Why was she chosen? She had been training for three years for the role of the slayer, but nothing had prepared her for the enormity of actually becoming the slayer. She wondered how Gaia had died, it was probably violent and she tried not to dwell on it much. She reminded herself that she was the slayer now. She had hoped that one day she would become the slayer. It was only now that she had become the slayer she actually realised that she had only become the slayer because the one before her had died.  
  
Her watcher brought her out of her thoughts. "We need to train more than normal.  
  
You have mastered the stake and sword relatively well for a potential slayer. There are other weapons that you need training with. You also need to learn about your own power, and find out for yourself what being the slayer means".  
  
These word Anna took in and made a silent promise to her that she would uphold the honour of the slayers who had fallen before her. She felt these girls were her sisters. They may not have had a blood connection. They were connected by a link more powerful. An ancient line of warriors past, present and future. The life of the slayer was tough emotionally and physically. She had to make sure no one would find out her secret. Her mother and watcher knew who she really was,  
  
When they had returned home Anna headed for her bedroom. Her mother Maria was sat up in the kitchen waiting for them to return home. Her watcher sat down at the table and her mother boiled some water and made them a cup of tea. While the pan was boiling on the fire they sat at the kitchen table in silence. They both knew what had happened that night. Giles had seen Anna nearly being killed by a vampire and being chosen at the same time. Her mother had used her powers of intuition and felt the power of the slayer transfer into Anna. At that moment she used the power that she had inherited through the centuries passed down by each passing generation getting stronger until Maria received these powers. She expected Anna to inherit them one day but she had been chosen for something greater, Anna was to become the slayer the protector of the world. When the vampire had attacked Anna and was about to tear into her neck, Maria felt the fangs on her own neck and thought she was going to die, with every ounce of strength that she had in her body she knew that she had to protect her daughter. Using her energies she cast a spell that would protect Anna from harm whilst she was out slaying. Maria knew that she could not stop Anna from dying it is the destiny of the slayer to die but she was able to cast a spell to protect her until she had become more confident with slaying. Giles and Maria both sat in silence as they contemplated Anna's future. Time so far was on her side she had only just been called and the demon world didn't know she was now the slayer. They had managed to protect Anna when she was a potential slayer by not revealing her true identity, now was the hard part she was the slayer and it would require her being awake at night. As a slayer she didn't need much sleep one of the advantages of being chosen but she was still a fifteen year old girl and being out alone at night would raise questions from the town's people.  
  
That night Anna had an uncomfortable nights sleep. She dreamt about the slayers that had come before her. From the very first slayer that was created by the shadow men. Anna saw the frightened look on her face as the shadow men used the essence of the demon as it entered the tied up frightened girl. She was an instrument created by the shadow men to fight the vampires, when she died the power transferred from her into the next slayer; they used her as a tool to kill the demons, the dreams tonight seemed different tonight. Before she knew about these girls but tonight she felt them, their fears, hope and dreams. She also felt the terror in their eyes when they were fighting the final battle knowing that they wouldn't win. Mixed up in the dreams of the slayers past she also had dreams of her own. She would no longer see herself getting married and having children, she couldn't see herself living past her 18th birthday, only a handful of slayers that had been chosen lived past their 18th birthday. Most of them died long before they reached that age. She felt sorry for herself but had to remind herself that she had a higher purpose and would destroy as many vampires, demons and the forces of darkness that she could, she was ready to accept her destiny. It was her time she had been called. Suddenly she woke up her hands felt clammy and her neck felt tight, she had just seen a slayer having the life choked out of her in England my a vampire. This vampire was different from most, he had red eyes and his face more feral, and there was something different about this vampire. Just like she was stronger than most people he seemed stronger than most vampires. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and tried to calm herself down. After a minute or so her heart rate returned to normal. She knew hat she would have to tell Giles about this vampire and find out who he is. She knew that he was alive, she could sense it. As well as inheriting the fighting abilities of the slayer she also inherited their intuition and their prophetic dreams.  
  
"I am the slayer" she said aloud to herself. Anna needed to make it real and the way she felt that would help make it more real to her was to say it out aloud. Through gritted teeth and a grim determination she uttered "Tonight I won the fight, tomorrow I will be ready for my war and go into battle". With those determined words she rolled over and fell asleep. 


End file.
